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Courses/Stage 2

The Big Chord-Change Workout

Intermediate9 minC, G, D and switching between them

Smooth out the common switches between C, G, D, Em, and Am, and playing-and-singing stops tripping you up.

Video lessons are in production — follow the notes and practice checklist below and you'll learn it just fine.
Stage 2 · More Chords & Changes7 lessons

You're on lesson 5 / 7 in this stage

Show all 7 lessons
  1. Your Third Chord: C7 min
  2. Your Fourth Chord: G7 min
  3. Your Fifth Chord: D7 min
  4. Open Chords A and E8 min
  5. The Big Chord-Change Workout9 min
  6. One-Minute Chord Changes: The Smart Way to Get Faster8 min
  7. Play Your First Pop Progression: G–D–Em–C9 min

Drill these switches especially

C ↔ G, G ↔ D, C ↔ Am, and Em ↔ G are the most common pairs. Start slow, two at a time, and look for the lazy route — which finger can stay put, or only move a short hop.

Take C → Am: the index and middle fingers don't move at all; you only slide the ring finger from the 3rd fret of the 5th string to the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. Two “shared fingers” hold their ground — that's the key to making it effortless. G ↔ Em has a ready-made finger reference too. Once you understand these shared points, your chord changes get a lot faster.

⇄
C
✕○○EADGBe123

✓Shared fingers 1, 2 — when you change, don't lift; keep them planted as an anchor (that's the key to smooth changes).

↗The orange finger 3 is what moves this time — watch the animation take the shortest path.

Hold1.3 s

Chord-change mantra: look first then press, keep shared fingers down, and never stop the right hand. Once it clicks, head up to the "Chord-change timer" above and race the clock.

Watch the chord-change animation: green = shared fingers that can stay put or hop a short distance, orange = fingers you have to move. Use it to find the lowest-effort switch — don't lift your whole hand off and search from scratch.

  • 💡 When you switch, fix your eyes on “which finger lands first for the next chord,” instead of placing them one at a time.

Chords in this lesson

Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.

✕321
213
✕✕132
23
✕231
⏱️ Cycle this lesson's chords to a beatPractice switching without stopping (one-minute changes) — first learn each chord by ear and shape, then drill clean changes between them.Expand

Switch back and forth between this lesson's chords to the beat below.

Tap “Start” to play along with the beat
CGDEmAm
Speed80 BPM
Time

One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.

Want to count how many changes you can do in 60 seconds? Head to the one-minute changes drill.

Go play these

Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:

See all songs →
Open the metronome60 BPM, changing chords every 2 beats.→

Practice checklist

  • At 60 BPM, loop C–G for one minute, then G–D and C–Am for a minute each.
  • Once it's steady, shorten the change to once every beat.